Time, knowledge, and the making of the city through construction and demolition work

Autori

  • Elena Sischarenco University of Fribourg

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13133/2532-6562/19510

Parole chiave:

conoscenza, edilizia, lavoro

Abstract

Questo articolo analizza come vengono prese le decisioni nel lavoro quotidiano dell’edilizia e come la città emerga attraverso pratiche di conoscenza. Sulla base di una ricerca etnografica in cantieri di costruzione e demolizione, sostengo che la città non si produce solo tramite pianificazione astratta o regolamenti. Essa si costruisce giorno dopo giorno attraverso decisioni concrete, prese al momento da imprenditori, geometri di cantiere e operai. La conoscenza nel settore delle costruzioni non è solo tecnica o scritta: si apprende con l’esperienza, attraverso le relazioni umane e la familiarità con materiali e processi di lavoro. I piani raramente si realizzano come previsto e le condizioni di cantiere, fatte di tempi stretti, incertezze e relazioni sociali, richiedono continui aggiustamenti. La città emerge così attraverso un processo non lineare, in cui pianificazione e improvvisazione si intrecciano e in cui rischio, compromesso e conoscenza pratica giocano un ruolo centrale.

Riferimenti bibliografici

Blau P.M. (1956). Bureaucracy in modern society. New York: Crown Publishing Group.

Burawoy M. (1979). Manufacturing consent: Changes in the labor process under monopoly capitalism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Carr S.E. (2010). «Enactments of expertise». Annual Review of Anthropology, 39: 17-32. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.anthro.012809.104948.

Coy M.W., ed., (1989). Apprenticeship: From theory to method and back again. New York: State University of New York Press.

Crook T. (2007). «Figures twice seen: Riles, the modern knower and forms of knowledge». In: Harris M., ed., Ways of knowing: Anthropological approaches to crafting experience and knowledge. Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Downey G. (2010). «Practice without theory: A neuroanthropological perspective on embodied learning». Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 16: S22-S40. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9655.2010.01608.x.

Farías I., Bender T., eds., (2010). Urban assemblages: How actor-network theory changes urban studies. London: Routledge.

Ferro S. (2024). Architecture from below: An anthology. London: Mack.

Ferro S. (2025). Design and the building site and complementary essays. London: Mack.

Grasseni C. (2004). «Video and ethnographic knowledge: Skilled vision in the practice of breeding». In: Alfonso A.I., Kurti L., Pink S., eds., Working images: Visual research and representation in ethnography. London: Routledge.

Harper D.A. (1987). Working knowledge: Skill and community in a small shop. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Harris M., ed., (2007). Ways of knowing: Anthropological approaches to crafting experience and knowledge (Vol. 18). Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Harvey D. (2001). Spaces of capital. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Herzfeld M. (2007). «Deskilling, “dumbing down,” and the auditing of knowledge in the practical mastery of artisans and academics: An ethnographer’s response to a global problem». In: Harris M., ed., Ways of knowing: Anthropological approaches to crafting experience and knowledge. Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Ho K. (2009). Liquidated: An ethnography of Wall Street. Durham: Duke University Press.

Ingold T. (2000). The perception of the environment: Essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill. London: Routledge.

Ingold T., Lucas R. (2007). «The 4 A’s (anthropology, archaeology, art and architecture): Reflections on a teaching and learning experience». In: Harris M., ed., Ways of knowing: Anthropological approaches to crafting experience and knowledge. Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Kobi M., Sischarenco E., Feri V. (2023). «Human energy. An anthropological perspective on labour and skills in circular construction». Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2600 (19): 192014. DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/2600/19/192014.

Lave J., Wenger E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lefebvre H. (1991). The production of space. Oxford: Blackwell.

Lévi-Strauss C. (1962). La pensée sauvage. Paris: Plon.

Marchand T. (2003). «A possible explanation for the lack of explanation: Or “why the master builder can’t explain what he knows”: Introducing the information atomism against a “definitional” definition of concepts». In: Pottier J., Bicker A., Sillitoe P., eds., Negotiating local knowledge. London: Pluto.

Marchand T. (2009). The masons of Djenné. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Perrotta M. (2015). Vite in cantiere. Migrazioni e lavoro degli albanesi in Italia. Bologna: Il Mulino.

Polanyi M. (1966). The tacit dimension. New York: Doubleday.

Rapport N., Harris M. (2007). «A discussion concerning ways of knowing». In: Harris M., ed., Ways of knowing: Anthropological approaches to crafting experience and knowledge. Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Sennett R. (2008). The craftsman. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Simone A. (2004). «People as infrastructure: Intersecting fragments in Johannesburg». Public Culture, 16(3): 407-429. DOI: 10.1215/08992363-16-3-407.

Sischarenco E. (2019). Encountering entrepreneurs: An ethnography of the construction business in the north of Italy. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Sischarenco E. (2025). «Recycling or reusing: An ethnographic study of the demolition industry in northern Italy». Urban Research and Practice, 19 (1), 104-120. DOI: 10.1080/17535069.2025.2494996.

Stoller P. (2007). «Embodying knowledge: Finding a path in the village of the sick». In: Harris M., ed., Ways of knowing. Anthropological approaches to crafting experience and knowledge. Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Participant observation at construction and demolition sites. Source: photos by the author

##submission.downloads##

Pubblicato

2026-06-30

Come citare

Sischarenco, E. (2026). Time, knowledge, and the making of the city through construction and demolition work. Tracce Urbane. Rivista Italiana Transdisciplinare Di Studi Urbani, 15(19), 303–324. https://doi.org/10.13133/2532-6562/19510